Chapter Twenty-Eight: Stories and Plans
8:42 a.m.
"THEY'RE BACK! RAPH AND CASEY ARE BACK!" Mikey's shout of jubilation rang through the Lair, catapulting Don from a comatose state to high-alert in zero-point-three seconds.
As Don's heart recovered from bolting upright and the flash of adrenaline washed away, Don remembered why he'd been avoiding sudden movement yesterday.
Ow. Major ow. The soreness wasn't quite as all-consuming as it had been yesterday, but still, every movement hurt. The turtle sighed, which hurt, and eased back his covers. Well, no going back to sleep after that. At least it's for a good cause.
He had just made it to the edge of the bed with his feet on the floor when the door opened.
Don flinched in anticipation of an ecstatic Mikey cannonball, but it was just Leo. He flipped the main light on, revealing his gentle smile, and moved forward. "Sorry. I was gonna tell him to let everybody sleep, but he woke up while I was in the kitchen."
"That's okay," Don mumbled, grunting in pain as Leo gave him a hand up. "Are they really back?"
Leo's wide grin gave the answer. "They got back in the night, toward morning, and I don't think it was through the door. I'm surprised you slept through Casey's arrival, actually." He reached over, picked up the crinkled tube of arnica from Don's bedside table, and started gently rubbing it on his brother. Don mumbled once or twice to direct him, but mostly just stood and accepted it. Definitely still helpful.
As Leo finished and set down the tube, Don glanced around and found his bo leaning against the wall. Do I need it today? "And Saja? Is she back too?" I don't think I need it today. I wouldn't be of much use anyway.
"There's two strangers flopped on our furniture."
Don paused.
"One must be your Saja, and the other is a young man wearing weird navy clothes. Actually, Casey's wearing the same thing."
Don reached for his bo. Leo grabbed it, started to hand it to him, and then changed his mind and reached around his brother to sheathe it for him. Man, I must look as pathetic as I feel.
A thought occurred to him as he started toward the door. "Did you really tell me you were gonna 'carry my bo so it didn't fall?'"
Leo snorted. "You remember that? You were so out of it. And yes, that was the lamest lie ever, but it's easier to carry you without your bo in the way."
"You carried me?" Don said as he left the room. He waved a hand before Leo could reply. "Of course, you carried me. How else would I have gotten home."
"No, you didn't float the whole way, even if that's what it felt like to you." Leo smirked as he came alongside. "You were like a zombie."
"Still embarrassing—getting carried by the turtle I just rescued," Don mumbled as they started down the stairs; Leo chuckled and made as if to swat him. Don flashed him a small grin, and then sobered. "Thanks, Leo."
Pride shone in Leo's eyes. "Anytime, Don."
They came to the bottom of the stairs to see three humans on the living room furniture. Saja, who seemed to be wearing different clothes, lay still under a blanket on the couch, flopped in what looked like a slightly uncomfortable position, but dead to the world.
A young man slept in the chair, wearing the same sort of navy shirt and pants Saja had shown up in.Don frowned. He's a shade or two lighter than Saja, but he almost looks like he belongs to the same people as her. That's funny. It sounded like she was an exile or something.
Casey, meanwhile, sat scrubbing at his eyes in Master Splinter's chair. He too wore the navy clothes, which looked very odd on him.
Don heard the whisper of a click. Master Splinter.
"Welcome back, Mister Jones." Master Splinter spoke softly, but Casey still jumped.
Don snickered and Leo grinned.
The young man muttered and shifted a bit, but gave no other indication that he would wake. Saja didn't move at all.
"Ugh, Master Splinter, you can't sneak up on a guy first thing in the morning," Casey moaned through his hands. He looked up suddenly, and his blurry blue eyes found Leo and Don. "It is morning, right?"
Smirking, Leo nodded.
Casey groaned and gestured toward the kitchen. "Go ahead. I'll b'there inna minute."
In the kitchen, the ninjas found a humming, beaming, apron-wearing Mikey at the stove and a mostly-asleep Raph, slumped in a chair, eyes closed. "Hey, Leo. Hey, Don. Mornin', Sensei. Good ta see ya," he sighed. "I'm back."
Don and Leo exchanged a glance.
"Are you well, Raphael?"
Raph took in a breath and let it out, then forced open his eyes. "I'm fine, Sensei. I'm jus' really tired from that sleepy drug an' th'whole traveling thing. I jus' took a green pill, so that should help inna couple minutes."
Alarm flashed in Don's mind. "Drug? What drug?" What happened to Raph in that 'unstable' land? And what green pill?
Raph flapped a hand lazily. "Don't worry, Don. Bren cleared me. If it makes ya feel better, I'll let ya check me out later, but I am not sleepin' in the medbay."
Bren? Is he a doctor? Or she?
Leo pulled up his chair; Don and Master Splinter did the same. "You'd better tell us about it, Raph."
Raph yawned. "Fine, whatever. But it's gonna be the short version, 'cause I'm goin' back ta sleep as soon as I get some food."
As if on cue, Mikey turned, bearing a huge skillet full of scrambled eggs mixed with sausage bits and cheddar. Leo snagged a stray potholder and tossed it in the middle of the table just before the cook set down his offering.
"Behold! Your gourmet breakfast awaits!" He pulled off his apron and sat down much more carefully than normal. Good to see Mikey's still being careful with his ankle. He really doesn't want a setback so he can help beat up the Gamer.
"Well, first thing I knew, I woke up in a forest, an' it was so annoyingly peaceful that I couldn't even worry about you guys…"
Over breakfast, Raph told his story. Casey stumbled in a few minutes later, in time to hear how Raph had argued with a flying squirrel and the one whose name resembled a sneeze had won. Raph did perk up after a bit, but telling how he had trained and led animals on a raid into an enemy base may have helped too. That… doesn't sound too bad, actually.
"Dude!" Mikey jumped in. "You got to go on missions an' stuff, bro! Not fair! I was stuck in a super duper boring and zappy and empty prison apartment!"
Jealousy had crept onto Leo's face as well. "And you got the privilege of causing trouble for those pro-slavery Othila while you were stranded."
"Heh." Raph grinned a little. "I guess I did keep busy. But then…" He told about getting drugged and captured with less enthusiasm, and then briefly mentioned waking up to Bren telling him about Saja and then meeting her. "You can't imagine how happy I was to read yer note, Donnie," he said, his voice rough. "So once I could stand up an' walk, Bren gave me a few green pills an' said I could go. He thought I'd be back ta normal after three full days."
Raph sighed and pushed away his empty plate. "So, what happened here? Last I knew, Don said 'they got the others.' Well, here you are. Who is 'they,' anyway?"
Don's eyes hardened. "The Gamer." Don, with aid from Master Splinter, Mikey, and Leo as he came to their parts of the story, told him and Casey. Then Raph, leaning on his elbows, turned to Casey.
"So, Case, I never saw ya mixed up wi' th' Othila and Da'an. Did yer dart send ya there, or someplace else?"
Casey shook his head. "Nah, it made me able to teleport through time an' stuff. I wouldn'ta figured it out, though, without Taevon. That's th' guy sleepin' on yer chair—sorry. Yeah, he dragged me all over da place…" He listed off a dozen or more stops, ticking off amazing historical places and times on his fingers.
Don's eyes widened further with each one. Casey went to Babylon's Hanging Gardens? And the Colossus of Rhodes? He heard Patrick Henry's 'liberty or death' speech? He witnessed the Spanish Armada? Him? Casey Jones?
Casey finally trailed off and shrugged, then looked down from staring off into space and finally noticed Don's face. He laughed. "Sorry, Don. I knew you'd love it… but I was da one hit with da dart."
Leo and Mikey snickered; Master Splinter smiled into his tea. Even Raph managed a grin.
Oh, great, I'm probably blushing. Don looked down, then finally managed a smile himself. I already know I'm a geek. Well, I'll just have to grill Casey for details on all these later. He looked up and eyed Casey. Hopefully I can translate Casey-ese into descriptions.
Casey almost flinched when he saw Don's look. He put up his hands in mock surrender. "All right, all right, I'll tell you more later, Donnie. I can't promise I'll remember everything, though."
"Fair enough. So how did you get back?"
"I ran outta juice, so Taevon took me ta his village and fed me loads of berries—then I could come back."
The turtles blinked at each other. Huh. Did not expect that answer.
Raph blinked more heavily than his brothers; his elbow slid and he jolted. With a groan, he rose—ignoring Mikey's stifled laugh—and slumped around his chair to push it in. "Well, I guess we're more or less caught up. I gotta go to sleep. That stupid sleepy drug is still in me—Bren said sleep, eating, and time ta get rid of it. I can't help beat up that Gamer guy 'til then, no matter how much I wanna fer what he did to Mikey's ankle, an' makin' Don fight a crazy number of Foot, and puttin' a shock collar on Leo, and puttin' Sensei in a train headin' fer a dead end. Don, ya got his hideout figured out?"
Don opened his mouth, but Leo beat him to it. "I scoped it out last night—it's the building where he laid a trap for you, Don. I just hope he stays there long enough for everyone to heal." Danger glittered in his eyes.
"You what?" Don shook his head. "Leo, if the Gamer caught you again-" he stopped himself. "Don't go back there again alone, Leo. Even if all of us are out of his power, he's a very clever enemy, with a lot of resources. We'll need all of us to bring him down."
Leo opened his mouth, but this time, Master Splinter cut him off. "Indeed, my sons. The Gamer is an enemy with a powerful mind. None of you-" he made eye contact with each of his sons- "is to confront him alone. You all need time to rest and recover."
The turtles bowed. "Yes, Sensei."
Not that I'd even try just yet, no matter how much I want to personally knock his teeth out, Don thought as he painfully rose and brought his plate to the sink. I'm still moving like a—well, like a hundred-and-fifty-year-old turtle with arthritis today. Hm, if that's the case, then tomorrow, it'll be a fifty-year-old, and then the day after—Don's eyes flashed—the day after, I'll be ready.